Jeremy Jones has won the 28th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship.
Jones, who has been away from the spotlight recently, went undefeated through the field and completely dominated Keith McCready in the match for the hot-seat.
As dominating as Jones win was against McCready, his win over Parica may have been even more so. Parica won the opening lag, but it was Jones who took the first rack and the followed it up with a 'break and run' for the 2-0 lead. Parica answered with a win in rack three and a 'break and run' of his own to tie the score at 2-2. Jones then took control as he won three of the next four racks for a 6-3 lead. If Jones was nervous about the possibility of winning his first US Open title, it didn't show as he broke and ran the next four racks for a 10-3 lead. Rack fourteen looked to be the end for Parica as Jones was running out, but left himself a bank on the 8-ball. Jones is known as one of the toughest one-pocket players on the planet, so a bank on the 8-ball did not phase him. He banked the ball but left himself a table length bank on the 9-ball. Jones banked the 9-ball perfect and it looked like the match was over, but amazingly the ball hung in the jaws of the pocket to leave Parica one last chance. Parica came up empty on the break in rack fifteen and Jones tied him up to earn ball-in-hand on the one ball. It would be Parica's last trip to the table, as Jones ran the rack to score the 11-4 win.
Jones commented after the event about how he considered the US Open winners an "elite group" and he was just "proud to be a part of it". Jones lost to Johnny Archer in the finals of the US Open in 1999. He commmented that "I knew if I played as well as I did back in 99, I was going to be hard to beat. I just had to take the balls one at a time and play my game." Jones has not competed in many events outside of Texas recently and when asked if this win meant he was back on the pro scene, he answered "I was on my way back anyway. I never really quit. I have a lot of things that I enjoy doing and I have friends in and out of the game of pool. I couldn't stay away from the game for long."
Jones earned $30,000 for the win, while Parica settled for $15,000 in second place prize money. Keith McCready and Rodney Morris filled out the top four spots.
Complete brackets are online and we have posted the gallery from the players meeting as well as galleries from Diana Hoppe and Mark Whiteside.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
